A NEW FENWAY PARK?
Annual pilgrimages to Fenway Park are
mandatory for fans to remain in good standing in Red Sox Nation, and I made
mine on June 4th to witness the BoSox host the Toronto Blue Jays.
The historical edifice remains special—the
only venue in the American League where the likes of Babe Ruth, Tris Speaker
Walter Johnson, Lou Gehrig and other legends actually took to a field of
dreams.
Fenway has its charm, of course, but it
can also be a field of nightmares for plus sized people—of which there is no
shortage in modern-day America. My problem is trying to fit a 6-foot-4 frame
into a seat made for Dustin Pedroia. Those with ample derrieres wider than 18
inches face different challenges.
I paid a couple hundred bucks for two
relatively decent seats where we could see the infield, even if our seats faced
center field. But the people to our right had their view of home plate obscured
by a pole/girder. They eventually went to standing room to watch, where they
couldn’t see the message board behind center field. But then again neither could
we.
We could have parked relatively close to
the park for $40, which I refused to do. I WAS able to find parking for only
$33 at a garage on Newbury Street, which meant a half hour walk to Fenway. But
it was a nice day and I celebrated with a libation. It only cost $9.75.
Fortunately, we saw a good game as Boston
prevailed, 6-4. But what a drag it would have been to pay all that money to see
your team get lose. (Toronto won every other game in the series to knock the
Sox out of first place.)
Per usual, I wore my #8 Yastrzemski
jersey, but had to chuckle when I saw my first Babe Ruth #3 Red Sox
shirt—historically inaccurate chutzpah. While the Bambino indeed played for
Boston from 1914-1919, he never wore a number for the Red Sox, much less #3. Teams
didn’t start using numbers until 1929.
REBUILD FENWAY!
Will the BoSox EVER move to a better park,
as has every other non-Cub team in baseball?
Numerous proposals have them
moving south or west of Boston—or even to New Hampshire. The Patriots certainly
flourish in Foxborough.
If the Sox didn’t want to move, they COULD
do what the Yankees did and renovate their existing park. The Yankees left the
old Yankee Stadium for two years, playing at Shea Stadium in 1974 and 1975
while the Stadium was gutted and renovated. The team returned to a revitalized
Bronx venue in 1976 and won three straight pennants. The revamped structure
served the Yankees well for three more decades. Then they moved into a brand
new Yankee Stadium in 2009—and won that year’s World Series.
Joe Martino is a
native New Englander who is now Chief Operating Officer for Shangri-La Construction, owned by billionaire
mogul Steve Bing. Martino built the AT&T Center, where the Spurs
play in San Antonio. He thinks renovating Fenway might be a great idea.
“What’s
amazing is how fast everyone will forget about [the Sox playing elsewhere for a
year] when they are back in Boston playing in a newly renovated but historic
and legendary home like Fenway.”
But where would the Red Sox play for a
year if Fenway was renovated?
The answer is Pawtucket, Portland,
Manchester, and—mostly—Montreal.
I noted with interest that the blue-clad
Jays fans sitting behind us at the Toronto game were speaking French,
indicating they were Quebecois—as opposed to Ontarians. And some Expo jerseys were
to be seen as well, even though MLB left Montreal for Washington over ten years
ago.
Playing a year at Montreal’s Olympic
Stadium would fill a baseball void and garner the BoSox new legions of fans
while sharpening the Toronto rivalry. And while the aforementioned minor league
venues have limited seating capacities, playing at least one home series in
Pawtucket, Portland and Manchester would certainly energize the greater New
England baseball universe as well.
Meanwhile, Fenway should be completely
gutted. Put in an upper deck behind home plate. Put in bigger seats. Put in
luxury suites—that’s where the real money is. Increase capacity to 45,000.
Build a parking garage.
Sure, keep the exterior brick façade with
the “1912” on top. And keep the Green Monster. Landsdowne Street isn’t going
anywhere. And keep the dirt, upon which trod Ruth, DiMaggio, William, and
Gehrig. The best of all worlds.
And it occurs to me that the Babe DID wear
#3 in Boston, when he finished his career in Beantown with the Braves in 1935.
So let’s go ahead and retire #3 for the Bambino, at a future Opening Day in the
NEW Fenway Park—against the Yankees, of course!
